


Together we can be heroes

by reddish_umbrella



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst, Dick Grayson as dad, Fluff, Gen, Rebellious Rachel, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26320870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddish_umbrella/pseuds/reddish_umbrella
Summary: After Dick's last mission with the Justice League went haywire, he promised Rachel to stay out of it. When he break his promise (once) again, she decided she had enough to wait at home and plans out a plan.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::A follow up one-shot to Comfort Hoodie from Not_So_Mundane_After_All_97Not necessarly need to read Comfort Hoode, but it would really you're loss if you missed it!
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Donna Troy, Dick Grayson & Rachel Roth, Dick Grayson & Raven
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	Together we can be heroes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Not_So_Mundane_After_All_97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_So_Mundane_After_All_97/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Comfort Hoodie](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26290960) by [Not_So_Mundane_After_All_97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_So_Mundane_After_All_97/pseuds/Not_So_Mundane_After_All_97). 



> After the dear Not_So_Mundane_After_All_97 posted her newest fic called Comfort Hoodie I felt inspired to write this one-shot. Because there was just too much potential for a story with Rachel on Justice League mission.   
> So thank you again, P. This story is all for you.

"Rachel, I'm sorry, but I really have to go!"   
"You promised me!" A few tears rolled down her cheeks, which were already reddened. Rachel hastily wiped the tears away with the hem of her sleeve. She didn't want to cry in front of Dick. She knew what he would think.   
He gave her a sad look and opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. There was silence between the two of them as he sighed and said, “I know what I promised you, Rachel. I've also turned down a lot of requests from the Justice League in the past, but this time Bruce asked me personally and I can't say no. It's too important. Donna and I have to go, no matter what I initially I have promised to you.”   
“You almost went down last time, have you forgotten that?”   
Dick sighed. "No, I did not. But I can tell you nothing else than that I will take care of myself and that I will do everything to get back to you, in one piece, safe and sound. "   
" But you cannot guarantee me and that’s the thing which keeps me awake at night!"  
"Rachel," he took a step to her, but she instinctively stepped back.  
"Forget it. Just forget about it. I'll get along. "Angry she stormed out of the room and let Dick with a sad expression on his face back.   
  
Rachel withdrew to her room, crawled under the covers, and tried to hold back the sobs. It was easy for him to leave, but for her who stayed behind it was almost unbearable. He was in control; she could only wait and hope that nothing would happen to him. She hated it. He had promised her he after the last mission for the Justice League, there would be no more missions. The last time the whole mission took two weeks instead of one because a shock wave, which had punctured his lung and an infected stab wound. It had battered her badly and the feeling of powerlessness had burned into Rachel's memory. She took a deep breath in and out. No matter what she said, he wasn't going to let it stop him. But she couldn't wait another time, she had to do something. Actually ... all she could do was the one, obvious thing.   
Rachel slowly peeled herself out of her blanket, straightened up in bed, and leaned against the headboard. She looks straight ahead in her mirror.   
"I have to follow him." The words came only with a croak from her lips. It was risky, but it was the only way. He would go anyway and if she was there with him ... then they could at least do something if he or Donna were in danger. All she had to do was come up with a well-executed plan. He would be leaving for Reno this afternoon, just before dinner. Rachel also knew exactly what kind of car he was going to take. Now she just had to wait until the right moment to start the first step of her plan.   


"I'm going out," Rachel announced as Dick and Donna were just about to pack their last things. Dick looked up in surprise. Kory, who was standing next to him and would lead the team during the absence of Dick and Donna, raised a left eyebrow.   
"Will you be back until dinner?", she asked simply.   
" Nope. I'm meeting up with friends from school." Rachel had started going back to school a few weeks ago and she was just hoping she would buy this. Because she hadn't been able to make friends until now.   
"Okay, but don't stay out any longer than 10:00 pm," Kory said, looking at Dick, who nodded barely. Rachel nodded briefly, which gave her a total of 5 hours before her disappearance was noticed here in the tower. Dick took a few steps towards her and wanted to hug her. Rachel instinctively took a step back. "See you," she said succinctly and left the room in the direction of the elevator. Dick's sad look hurt her heart, but she was in no mood to simulate a farewell scene. She could still hear them talking.  
"Do you think she's okay?" Rachel heard Donna say to Dick.   
He paused. "I hope so ..."   
When Rachel got downstairs in the garage, she tried to avoid the cameras and cautiously sneaked towards the Land Rover Defender. Especially, when they went on missions away from home, they were more likely to use an off-roader than a station wagon. At least that was Rachel's assessment and she hoped she wasn't wrong today. She reached the car and crawled under it with great difficulty. She had to wait for Donna and Dick to come down and open the car so she could climb into the trunk. Dick always placed the luggage, including the suitcases with the suits, in the back seat. I think he just preferred to have his Nightwing suit in sight instead hidden in the trunk. Which was Rachel's biggest luck today.   
She heard footsteps and crept a little further into the shadow of the SUV. She heard Donna and Dick's voices and the click of the car opening. Now they just had to wait until the door closed before she had about 60 seconds before Dick had programmed the navigation system and started the car.   
Rachel heard the back door open and the suitcase put carefully on the back seat and a travel bag thrown in. Then she heard both front doors again, she hurriedly crept from under the car. With fiddly fingers, she operated the lock, and the trunk opened with a soft swoosh noise. She climbed in and closed it. The drive to Reno took about 3 hours, she just hoped that there was enough oxygen in the trunk.   
  
"I kind of have a bad feeling about Rachel," Dick said from behind the wheel. Donna stared into her cell phone and didn't lookup. "Donna?"   
Donna sighed. “She’s a teenager, what did you expect? And she’s a special teenager, don't forget that. ”   
“I know… but usually she's not that dismissive to me. ”   
“ Dick… we had no choice but to accept this mission. You've heard Bruce and Diana ... since the Joker's raid, there have been some questionable suspects in town. They might beat them alone, but these things can spiral so fast out of control, it’s safer if we help them.”  
“ Yes, I know… anyway… ”Dick paused when he saw that he had just received a call from Barbara Gordon. He pushed the accept button. "Barb, what's going on?"   
"Where are you now?" Barb asked without further greeting.   
"We'll be there in a minute ... we're about in Verdi Mogul," he said.   
“You have to come straight to Midtown, we have a situation that is about to get out of hand. Please come to the Homegrown Gastropub, which is on Virginia Street, number 719. A hostage-taking is going on there. We'll meet in a black van, Gotham license plate in a side alley. I’ll send you the location now.”   
“ Okay, ”said Dick, speeding up the car. Within a few minutes, they reached Midtown and parked the car on a side street. Donna opened the back door and handed him his suitcase with his costume in it.   
  
Rachel felt the car stop and Donna and Dick get out. She waited till she was sure that they were gone before she pressed the security button to open the trunk. Unlike many films portrayed the issue, all cars since 2002 had a safety mechanism to open the trunk from the inside.   
She tumbled out of the trunk, wobbly on her legs. She was soaked in sweat and her throat was dry as dust. She did have a small bottle of water with her, but that hadn't lasted long and ended up a half spilled on herself. She looked around. The car had been parked in a hurry on a dark side street. She slowly made her way towards the main street. The street was completely deserted and only a few cars were standing around, some of them burning or badly demolished. She looked them around ... she saw no people. Somehow, she had expected that there would be people walking around in a panic. Slowly she continued her way until suddenly she was facing someone in a tattered and brightly colored suit. He had a person trapped in his arm and a gun pressed to his temple. Realizing what was going on, Rachel took a few steps back and bumped into a half-empty garbage can, which clattered loudly on the floor and rolled away. The guy suddenly turned around with his hostage and looked at her with evil twinkling eyes.   
"Well, what little girl to we have here?"   
  
"Well," Barbara sat in her little surveillance van in front of various screens. “We have almost cleared all the surrounding streets so that nobody gets in the way. He only has one hostage, but he just doesn't want to let go of that.” She turned to one of her screens. “If you come from this side …. wait a minute ... who is that? “, said Barbara as she saw a person standing behind the hostage-taker. Dick and Donna looked at the screen and Dick felt cold sweat run down his back. "Can you zoom in, please?", he asked Barbara. Quickly she zoomed in with her computer mouse and the camera showed the person’s face. "Rachel!" He uttered to his shock.   
" Shit!", Donna cursed, "how did she get there?"

" Well, little girl, are you lost?" The hostage taker's eyes shone like those of a madman and Rachel knew immediately that she shouldn't underestimate him.  
"I," she said and took a step back, "was ... by any chance in the area?"   
The hostage-taker looked at her in disbelief, then his face twisted into an ugly grimace. He clicked his tongue. "Then I'm glad that I'm lucky enough to be there right now. Come to me. "   
" Um ... no. "   
He looked at her half angry, half perplex. “Girl, maybe you are a bit stupid, but what I have in my hand”, he grabbed his hostage a little more and visibly bored the weapon into his victim's temple, “is a weapon that can kill. So, don't start arguing with me and come to me.”   
Rachel felt the anger boil inside her. So now she was a stupid girl who should obey the orders of an arrogant hostage-taker? She felt the fear in her belly still sitting there, but at the same time, she was also incredibly angry. She had learned on Themiscyra that she was not powerless. Either she could fight the guy, or she could use her powers against him. There was no way she would just cuddle up against him. But she had to play it cool.   
“Thank you for the repeated invitation, but I'd rather stay back here. The… view is nicer here.”   
In slow motion, the guy lost his composure when it dawned on him that she had repeatedly contradicted his request. He took a few steps towards her, the arm with the weapon stretched out in her direction, and for a short time let his hostage out of the headlock. The victim staggered back, and Rachel saw her opportunity arise. She opened her hands, her powers flowed out, and grabbed the hostage-taker on his torso. His eyes widened in horror, and the gun fell with a clatter on the paved road. The hostage struggled to his feet and hurried away while his hostage-taker hovered three meters above the ground. He screamed and tried desperately to free her from Rachel's grasp. Unsuccessful.   
"You stupid bitch! Let me down right now!” He spat and turned in anger.   
A smug smile spread across Rachel's face. What an idiot.   
"Rachel!" Suddenly she heard Dick's voice behind her. He stood there, armed up in his Nightwing costume, eyes wide in shock, his gaze fixed on her. His gaze met Rachel so unexpectedly that she let go of the hostage-taker and he fell screaming into the depths. However, he survived the fall so well that in the next moment he grabbed his second weapon on his thigh and aimed it at Rachel. Rachel saw Dick start screaming and run towards her while she stood there paralyzed. Almost as if in slow motion, she could see the hostage-taker pulling the trigger of the pistol and the bullet flying towards her. But before anything could happen, he was grabbed by Donna's lasso at the last minute and pulled back from his feet with a tremendous force. The bullet missed her by several inches. Rachel felt like Dick lunged at her and pushed to the ground before he understood himself that the danger had been averted. Kneeling on all fours, he was over Rachel, panting. "Rachel!" His voice sounded so small and vulnerable as if he had just looked his greatest fear in the eye.   
  
“Are you forsaken by all good spirits? Tell me, did you flush any kind of common sense down the toilet? Why to the bloody hell are you here, Rachel?! "Donna was completely upset. For more than a quarter of an hour, she gave Rachel a sermon and Rachel felt smaller by the minute. She had never seen her like this before. Rachel had expected Dick to read her the riot act, but he was just incredibly pale and hugged her over and over, and before he could say anything, Donna had already buttoned her up.   
There was a loud throat clearing behind them. Rachel looked around the little van and only now saw a red-haired woman sitting in the corner.   
“I think that's enough now, Donna. I think she understood that she screwed up.”The woman turned her gaze to Rachel. “I'm Barbara Gordon. So, you actually hid in the trunk from the drive from San Francisco to Reno?" She asked a little incredulously. Rachel nodded silently. Barbara shook her head, half-amused, and reached under the table and took out a large water bottle. She handed it to Rachel. "Then you should drink a lot of liquid now." Rachel gratefully took the bottle, unscrewed it, and put it on. With greedy gulps, she emptied half the bottle in one go.   
"How did you get out again? I thought trunk couldn't be opened from the inside, at least that's how they show in the fillms", Donna interjected, who slowly seemed to calm down.   
“Standard security mechanism since 2002,” Barb and Rachel answer her question in unison. Barb raised her eyebrows in surprise and smiled. “She does research beforehand. I like that.” She gave her an approving smile. Rachel felt the knot of tension in her stomach slowly loosen.   
Rachel felt Dick put a hand on her shoulder and instinctively she turned her head to face him. He looked tired but relieved.   
“I should read you the riot act and maybe I'll do that later, but for now I'm just glad that nothing happened. But you can never do that to me again, okay? We can always talk about anything and find a plan for it.”   
“I just didn't want to stay home alone again and hope that nothing happens. I didn't want to feel as powerless as last time.”   
Dick looked at her with sad eyes and instead of giving her an answer, he took her in his arms and hugged her. Rachel rested her forehead on his collarbone and breathed deeply in and out. She felt safe and at home in Dick's arms.   
"We're going to send you home now, just to make it clear." Donna was in a harsh tone again and grimaced in a determined expression. Rachel and Dick broke away from the embrace, looked up, and both wanted to protest when Barb came before them.   
“There's no time for that anyway. You now must go to Diana and Bruce to the detention center. There they try to bring the prisoners back to their cells. You have no other choice than to take Rachel with you.”   
“No way!” Donna's cheeks turned red with indignation. “Can’t we just leave her here with you?”   
“Listen, I'm not babysitting a fifteen-year-old! Besides, everything went well if Dick hadn't frightened her. So, you just have to work on your communication.” She rustled in one of the transparent boxes that were placed on the side of the wall and tossed something black to Rachel with a deft hand movement.   
“It's a two-way radio headset.” Rachel looked at her in disbelief, but Barbara winked at her encouragingly. "Don't let Donna make you insecure, it wasn't so bad earlier."   
"Dick, say something!" Donna urged him desperately. He just shrugged his shoulders.   
"I don't want to see Rachel fight any more than you do, but we have no choice and we both know Rachel well enough that she wouldn't just wait here for us."   
Donna groaned in exasperation and rubbed her forehead. "Great! Then we take you with us." She turned to Rachel and raised her index finger threateningly. "But no such dangerous individual actions as before, do you understand? You listen to my and Dick's orders and otherwise, you do nothing!"   
“Yes, Mom.” Rachel rolled her eyes in exasperation.   
Donna narrowed her eyes. "You can save yourself that tone of voice!" Rachel bit her lip so she wouldn’t provoke her any further.   
“Wonderful,” said Barb dryly, “can you please take your family intervention outside now? At least I have to work here. "

"Dick. You brought accompaniment. "   
Rachel winced when she heard the deep voice of a known man in her ear.   
"Bruce. Yes, there was an incident,” Dick confirmed briefly on the radio.   
They stood outside large wooden double doors one 's time-honored, gray building, which bore the inscription "Institute for dangerous subjects Reno".   
“If that's the case, then “the incident” can be useful by standing guard in front of the main door and alerting us if someone tries to escape. You and Donna will come inside and will help Diana and me bring the rest of the inmates to their cells. ”  
“Got it”, Dick acknowledged the instruction over the radio. He turned to Rachel. "You heard it … you wait here and when someone tries to escape through the main door you call out to one of us. You don't intervene yourself, understood? ”  
Rachel grimaced. So, she should just stand there while the others risked their lives in there. Fucking awesome. "Rachel, you don't intervene yourself, do you understand?", repeated Dick when he saw her expression. She sighed deeply.  
"Yes, I understand. I'll let you know, and I won't intervene if someone tries to escape.” Dick gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze.   
“It won't be long before we can go home again, okay?" Rachel nodded silently and watched Donna and Dick disappear into the building. She looked around; it was eerily quiet on the premises. She felt her stomach contract with fear again. Not for herself, but for Dick and the others. She couldn't help them if something happened in there because she wasn't allowed to.  
" Shit!" Rachel muttered to herself.  
"Are you okay?", asked the voice of Barbara in her ear. Surprised about Barbaras voice she remembered that the radio was still on. "Yeah ... I'm just a little tense," Rachel replied evasively.  
" Hmm ... I can play some suitable music for you if you want."   
Rachel grinned. "Okay, sure, why not?"  
"Wait ... I'm going through my playlist ... Aaah ... that looks good." Rachel heard the first few bars of an 80s song through the headphones in her ears and she had to involuntarily laugh loudly when she thought she recognized the song.   
"I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night," she sang out loud in the chorus. "  
“I thought you'd like it," Barb said, a grin in her voice.  
"Yep, fits perfectly." Rachel grinned and bobbed her foot in time. Suddenly she saw a shadow scurry past her, and she looked up.  
"We have a fugitive!" She exclaimed in surprise before she could contain herself. But the figure already heard her and slowly turned around and before Rachel could understand what was happening, the person ran towards her. "What the hell?" Eyes widened in horror she began to run away.  
"Barbara, Barbara!"  
"What's going on?", asked the voice in her ear, surprised. "I am being followed! Please let others know! ”  
“You ... what? YOU are being followed?”   
“Yes, damn it! Let Dick know!”

“Well, that should have been all of the normal inmates. They should all be back in their cells now”, Diana announced over the radio system.   
“Well, then we can again… Barb? Is Holding out for a Hero running in the background?”, asked Dick over the radio system. He and Donna were standing on the first floor and had just walked through the hallways and checked that all cells were properly locked. "  
“Yes, it is, but long story. We have a problem. Rachel is being followed by a fugitive prisoner.”  
Donna, who was standing next to Dick and could also hear Barbara’s voice, opened her mouth furiously. “She’s following someone? Didn't we… ”  
“No, Donna, she IS being followed by an inmate. She's trying to run away from him.”  
“What the hell? ”Dick muttered to himself when Bruce joined the conversation.   
"Dick, please solve that. Donna, please come to the first floor. We have still to secure the high-security wing in the basement. After that, we should be finished here."   
While Donna confirmed the instructions, Dick hurriedly made his way outside. When he stood outside the wooden double doors, Rachel wasn’t be seen. When he narrowed his eyes, he could see in the distance how a person with tangled hair was chasing Rachel and slowly but surely closing in on her. Without thinking twice, he started running in their direction.

" Cooooooooome here! I want to take you as my hostage!” The squeaky voice of the man with sticking out hair and crazy look rang unpleasantly in Rachel's ears.  
"What's the matter with these idiots today, why do they all want to take me hostage?" Rachel gasped and looked worriedly behind her at the person. Which led her to overlook a fallen branch that was lying on the ground and she tripped over it with full force and landed on all fours on the pebbly floor.  
"Ouch !" She yelled. At that very moment, the man pounced on her and began to scratch her face like a cat gone mad. Rachel screamed again and kicked him off in the stomach area. She straightened up and opened her right hand to use her power when the guy rushed at her again and bit in the fingers of her right hand.   
"Fuck you!" Rachel yelled in pain, trying to shake him off with all her force. But he only bit more vehemently and she could feel her finger starting to bleed and the pain of the bite running through her whole arm. His eyes were sparkling wildly, and Rachel was afraid that the guy would bite off her fingers when he suddenly winced with a puzzled expression and let go of her.  
"Rachel!" Dick was standing over him, he hit the guy with his escrima stick. He quickly knelt and inspected her injured hand.  
“That asshole bit me! Who does that ?! ”  
“I don't know… Ooooooooouch!” He yelled out loud. With a cry of pain, he grabbed the neck of the man who had just bitten his neck. Dick fell to the ground with him and rolled onto the hard gravel floor, fighting with him. By the time the man stood over Dick and tried to attack him again with his nails and teeth, Rachel had seen enough. Her uninjured left hand evoked her power, which grabbed the man and tossed the man into the canopy of a sugar maple tree with a powerful blow. The guy clung to the thin branches desperately and yelled for help with his squeaky voice. Rachel sank exhausted to the ground and closed her eyes. She felt Dick come to hers and his gloved hand gently touch her face.   
"Rachel? Are you okay? ”  
“ Just a few scratches and bloody fingers,” she grunted. She opened her eyes and looked at his face. Suddenly they both laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Dick let himself sink onto the floor next to her and the two stared at the night sky.   
"Are you okay?" The sound of boots running ripped them out of her thoughts. Donna looked down at them and then at the man in the canopy of the sugar maple. "I have to get him down there, do I?"  
"I need a hero, I'll wait for a hero until the end of the night, she's gotta be strong  
and she’s gotta be fast, and she's gotta be fresh from the fight..." Dick sang and Rachel began to giggle. Donna rolled her eyes and took out her lasso.

  
  
"Dick? I've been trying to reach you all night. Rachel didn't come home and Gar said she had no friends ... ”   
“ I know, ”Dick interrupted her. “She's in my car. Everything's fine.”   
“ Oh, okay, ”came Kory's voice over the phone speaker. “How did that happen?”   
“It's a long story. We'll tell you when we're back home in a few hours.”  
Dick said goodbye to Kory and hung up. He looked over at Rachel, who had a few scratches on her cheek and a bandaged right hand but looked otherwise happy and healthy. With a look at the clock of the Landrover, he said: "Coffee?"   
"Please."   
He drove to the next coffee shop and parked the car in the parking lot. They both looked at the sleeping Donna in the backseat and they decided to leave her there and went to fetch some coffee and breakfast inside. They came out not much later, Rachel a chocolate cappuccino in her healthy hand, Dick with a black filter coffee in his. They sat down on one of the picnic tables outside the shop and watched the morning sun slowly greeting Nevada.   
Dick bit in his bacon breakfast bagel while Rachel nibbled on her blueberry muffin. The two were silent, drinking and eating their breakfast when Rachel broke their silence.   
"I am sorry. I shouldn't have followed you.”   
Dick looked up and looked at her, his eyes gentle. “It's not your sole fault, Rachel. I shouldn't have just put it off like last time. I haven't learned from my mistake. At least you did something.”   
“Even if it wasn’t the right thing per se,” she added.   
“Yes, you can argue about that. But at least you did something else. So, we are both to blame. We should both do better next time.”   
“You mean talking to each other and actually listening?” Rachel grinned and he grinned back. Dick held out his arm. "Come here."   
Rachel happily slid over to him in his arm. He hugged her tightly and she took a deep breath. She was home again.   
“You know… I may be the former Robin, the current leader of the Titans, but that doesn't mean that I always do the right thing. I also need someone from time to time to show me the way. ”   
“You mean the hero needs a hero himself?” Rachel asked smiling.   
He looked down at her seriously. "I need you, Rachel. Every single day. Without you, I'd still be an angry detective in Detroit who pushes everyone off. Through you, I learned to see the world through different eyes. Through you, I have learned that it is not only right to give help to others, but also to take help from others. "   
" I need my Rachel, I'm waiting for my Rachel until the end of the night", hummed Rachel with a big smile in her face. Dick laughed and hugged her closer.   
"Thanks, dad. You know you mean the world to me too and I'm so glad we both found each other. My life wouldn't be the same without you.”   
He smiled and kissed her forehead gently. The two were silent and enjoyed their togetherness under the morning sun when someone cleared their throat loudly behind them.   
"I thought I was your heroine and then you won't even get me coffee?", asked Donna, who stood sleepily behind them.   
Dick and Rachel looked at each other briefly and began to giggle.   
"What’s so funny?", Donna asked with a yawn, but Dick and Rachel just smiled and turned back to the morning sun. There were things they only shared amongst each other.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll take kudos and comments as my reward :-)


End file.
